Work Text:
“Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. Start goddamn you motherfucker start.” Darcy swore under her breath fiddling with the wires under the steering wheel as sweat dripped into the cut on her temple and she winced at the sting. She gripped the wires tightly fingers slick with sweat and viscous fluids she didn’t want to think about. When her fiddling finally brought the engine to life she barely stopped herself from cheering. “Yes. Here’s to teenage delinquency.” She spun the car out of its parking space and drove out of the parking lot like a flood of demons were after her. Them. Maybe not demons, but henchmen and a ridiculously quaffed Supervillian.
She looked across at Captain America, Steve Rogers sitting beside her, face pale, full lips in a grim line as he held tight to the door with one hand and his side with the other. “You ok there, Cap?” Darcy asked eyes flicking to the rear view mirror, but the road was empty behind them. Darcy tapped her fingers nervously on the steering wheel, her skin felt itchy and tight with the adrenalin still coursing through her veins.
“I’m fine Miss...Agent Lewis.” Steve gritted out, shifting in the seat beside her as Darcy navigated through traffic to get as far away from the hotel as possible.
“Fine my ass, Captain. You’re bleeding through your Armani suit. That suit cost more than my college education.”
“I’ve had worse. Once the bullet is out I will be healed up by morning. Where are we headed?”
“Nifty trick. In case you didn’t notice those morons were specifically after you.” Darcy kept her eyes on the road swerving through traffic and checking to see if they were being followed. She tried not to think about the cut on her temple dripping down her face, or the fact that the lovely purple dress she wore was singed, torn and covered in drops of blood and a partial bloody handprint on her hip from Captain America dragging her out of the line of fire as they raced across the car park. “I thought that SHIELD kept your identity a secret? There’s a leak somewhere and Coulson’s gonna shit a brick.... er sorry Cap.” Darcy rambled on as she reached down in the foot well beside Steve feet and dragged her bag out and fished her phone out and started dialling.
“Coulson.”
“Go to the awards ceremony, you said. Have a few laughs. Have some drinks. Meet some superheroes, you said. You never mentioned being attacked by a psychopath with clown hair. Last time I checked this was not Gotham City Coulson..” Darcy grimaced and glanced over at Captain America as a brittle smile twitched at his mouth.
“Miss Lewis, I’m well aware of the situation. We have the-“
“I have Cap with me. After... after the explosion and....and... Fuck.” Darcy bit her lip and blinked but a few insubordinate tears tracked down the soot, sweat and ruined makeup on her face. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. She was not going to cry on the phone to her boss with Captain America sitting beside her. “Cap’s with me. I jacked a car; we’re over the bridge, headed north. Cap’s bleeding from a GSW. I don’t know how badly. It looks bad. They were after him. We got separated from the others. They knew Steve was Captain America. I am not prepared for this. It was just supposed to be Jane getting an award. I’m not finished with my training yet. What the hell happened back there?”
“Put the Captain of the phone Probationary Agent Lewis. We’ll talk about your hotwiring abilities and addiction to procedural dramas another time.” Coulson replied dryly.
“Yes Dad.” Darcy muttered sarcastically and held the phone out for Steve to take.
“Agent.”
“I’m afraid Miss Lewis is correct Captain. You’re not in the clear yet. How badly are you injured?”
“I’m fine Coulson. Been shot before. Gotta get the bullet out and I will be healed up by the morning. Where’s the team? And Drs. Foster and Ross? I lost track of them when we got the public out and were separated by the explosion.” Steve replied in his Captain voice as he glanced down at Agent Lewis’ phone and pressed the speaker button.
“Everyone is fine. Only minor injuries caused by the initial explosion. The Hulk decided to play after you and Agent Lewis escorted the guests to safety. Iron Man and Hawkeyes are tracking down the perpetrator and the mole. Can you get somewhere safe for a few hours until we can send agents to collect you?”
“Yeah I know a place.” Darcy replied as she eyed up the road signs and swerved across three lanes of traffic to the nearest exit. Steve’s hand holding the phone shot out to steady himself against the dashboard and arched a brow at her. “ What? I grew up near here. Didn’t Coulson give you my file when he told you guys I’d be his minion? When not being a lab lackey and purveyor of fine caffeinated beverages to Jane, Bruce and Tony?” Darcy huffed and turned back to the road ahead of her fingers gripped the steering wheel tightly.
“We’ll await your call Agent.” Steve replied dismissively into the phone before switching it off and tossing it back into Darcy’s bag. Darcy reached over and twisted the radio on flicking through stations until AC/DC blasted out of the speakers. “No.” Steve and Darcy said at the same, and Darcy tuned into another station and the strains of Hotel California filled the car.
“At least we have the proper soundtrack to this nightmare.”
.....................................................
“You still ok there Captain?” Darcy asked as she checked her mirrors and turned into the parking lot of a strip mall and the blazing Target sign glowing at the end of the lot as she choose a space in a more shadowed area of the car park.
“It’s Steve and I’m fine Miss Lewis.” Steve replied turning to offer Darcy a faint smile.
“It’s Darcy. Right I’m going to run into Target and grab some bandages and some clothes for you. And I’m guessing food for that super metabolism of yours.” She grimaced and slightly opened the car door and rummaging in her bag for a small packet of hand wipes and a rumpled cardigan. She dragged the cardigan on, fingers slightly shaking as she attempted to do up the buttons. Darcy used the wipes to clean away most of the grime and makeup from her face, but it still left the gash on her temple and the bruise blooming on her jaw. “How do I look? Like I’ve just been through a gunfight and an explosion perpetrated by clowns or what?” Darcy muttered and Steve turned to look at her critically. Darcy tried not to hunch herself up as Steve reached forward and pulled her hair to the side covering the cut and obscuring her jaw line, rough calloused fingertips brushing against her neck.
“Better.” Steve replied and Darcy hopped out the car and headed towards the store entrance, feeling Steve’s eyes sweeping over her the entire time. Within fifteen minutes she was back in the car three large red and white bags swinging from her fingertips. Darcy turned the car out on the road and let Steve fiddle with the radio, picking and choosing between stations and songs.
“You like Johnny Cash?” Steve asked as Darcy started softly singing along to A Boy Named Sue as it softly played on the radio.
“How can you not? My mother always said I had odd taste in friends and music. I choose to believe my musical tastes are eclectic. I like music; it’s sort of how I got here. Coulson stole my ipod when Thor fell out of the sky and I totally tazed his ass. They brought Jane’s equipment back after they stole it but my ipod was missing. I pestered Coulson. And um might possibly have done a bit of hacking.” Darcy glanced over at Steve whose eyebrows had crawled up nearly to his hairline. “Hey no judge-y eyebrows Mister. At least I don’t dance about in a spangly uniform! Oh shit.” Darcy bit out and swerved off the asphalt and onto a small bumpy dirt road.
“Hey honey we're home!” Darcy grinned cheerfully as she pulled up to a small weather beaten cottage. Steve looked dubiously from Darcy to the small cottage as she swung open the car door and headed around the front of the car to get to the front door.
“Darcy.” Steve barked as he opened his door and eased out.
“It’s fine Captain. My uncle owns the house. It’s his place to come work on his great unfinished novel. Or get away from my aunt. Come on Cap lets go play doctor and get you all patched up.” Darcy flashed Steve a toothy grin as she bend down and fished a key out of the fake rock in the flower bed. “Aha!”
...............................................................................
Darcy was sure she was going to be sick. Her hands were covered in blood as she dug into the bullet wound on Steve’s side. She grimaced when the bullet refused to budge. She glanced up into Steve’s eyes. “Do it.” He gritted out, fingers gripping tightly to the blankets beneath him. Darcy bit her lip and tightened her grip on the tweezers. She pulled the bullet out and a new fount of blood came with it. “Fuck.” Steve swore, abdomen twitching beneath Darcy’s hands. Darcy dropped the bullet and tweezers into the bowl on the bedside table and pressed a bandage against Steve’s stomach.
“Can we not do this ever again?” Darcy asked hands trembling only slightly as she got a fresh bowl of clean water and a clean cloth to wipe every trace of blood and grime left on Steve bare torso, gently washing over the bruises that covered his ribs from the explosion.
“I dunno I thought we could steal one of Stark’s cars and have another road trip with less gunfire and explosions. I promise I’ll try not to get shot in an inconvenient manner again.” Steve remarked dryly, wincing as the cloth rubbed against roughened and bruised skin.
“You do that Rogers.” Darcy nodded and bit back the comment curling on her tongue but began to giggle, shoulders shaking before the giggle turned into laughter with an edge of hysteria. “I’m done so totally done for the night. Really I can’t believe I just pulled a freaking bullet out of Captain America’s stomach. This was not in the SHIELD training handbook. Well I didn’t read it all per say but I’m pretty sure it’s totally not there. And now I’m sitting here giving you a sponge bath. Any other time...” Darcy closed her eyes and tilted her head trying to fight back the tears that slipped down her face. God when had she turned into such a fucking train wreck.
“Hey....” Steve murmured wrapping his calloused hand around her wrist, his thumb absently rubbing against her skin. “It’s ok. ‘M ok. I’ll heal. It’s practically what I do. I fight. I get hurt. I heal.” He shrugged then winced at the pull on the bullet wound, and the creaking of his ribs.
“I...I’m fine. Just it was a long day and I think I’ll go hop in the shower while you catch some z’s. I’ll text Coulson.”
“Yes ma’am. And thank you.” Steve murmured a faint smile turning up the corners of his mouth. He looked down at his hand still wrapped gently around Darcy’s wrist and his smile turned slightly sheepish before he slowly let go of her and settling back in the bed, eyes closing.
.......................................
Darcy slipped into the bathroom, closing the door behind her and slumping against it, her right hand wrapped around her left wrist where Steve’s hand had been. Darcy tilted her head to glance at her reflection, the small cut on her temple the bruise blooming across her cheek the blood splattered on her shirt. Nose wrinkling in distaste she stripped off her close and hopped in the shower, squeaking when the cold water poured down on her.
She stayed in the shower long past her fingers turned to prunes. Finally letting herself cry, the water and rumble of the pipes masking her sobbing from the super soldier in the other room, as she curled up in the bottom of the bathtub. The water washed away all the dirt, blood and tears and Darcy washed her hair twice with the bottle of shampoo before stepping out and wrapping herself in a soft blue towel. She leaned against the bathroom counter and drew a star in the condensation covering the mirror before wiping a clear patch.
Darcy eyed herself critically, skin pink from the hot water, dark hair tangling around her shoulders, the bruises would look worse in the morning but all in all she was alive and she helped people today. Hell she practically did surgery on Captain Freaking America. Agent Darcy Lewis was a badass, and apparently Captain America’s sidekick on this weird and unplanned road trip.
Running her fingers through her hair Darcy opened the door and peered out at the slow rise and fall of Steve’s chest as he slept. She tiptoed across the room and rummaged in the plastic back from the gas station the stopped at earlier in the night. She dragged out one of the large t-shirts from the bottom of the bag, tore the tag off and slipped it over her head shimmying out of the towel and draping it over the back of a chair in the room. The shirt was Captain America blue with a cartoon version of Captain America’s shield emblazoned over her chest in thickly drawn lines. She glanced over at Steve’s sleeping form and couldn’t help the smirk that twisted the corner of her mouth up.
Darcy perched on the opposite side of the bed and pulled the blankets up over her legs. Steve lay on his back breath even but his face had lost some of the pinched look he had since she half dragged him towards the hotel’s parking lot, blood dripping over the hand he held at his side. Darcy swiped her phone from the bedside table and sent off a few texts to Coulson snuggling deeper into the blankets warmed by Steve’s body heat.
.....................................................
Minutes, possibly hours later Darcy woke with a start, uncurling from her uncomfortable position half sitting at the head of the bed. She fumbled for her phone. 3:38am. No messages or missed calls.
Darcy frowned then turned to look at Steve, his back was turned to her, and she could hear a faint murmuring coming from him. Darcy leaned forward gripping Steve’s shoulder and shaking him slightly. “Rogers?” Another jumbled string of vowels followed by the words “No” and “Bucky”. “Come on Steve wake up. “ Darcy tried again biting her lip before scooting her body closer to him, wrapping herself around him with her smaller frame. “Shush Steve. It’s ok.” She whispered into the back of Steve neck over and over, running her hand along the length of Steve’s arm and hugging him tightly. She knew it wasn’t even remotely ok. She hadn’t officially been allowed to read Steve file but she had gleaned enough from working with Coulson. She knew Steve didn’t sleep much, if at all. And now she was certain that whatever sleep he did get was filled with nightmares of those he lost.
Eventually Steve settled down as he fell deeper asleep, the trembling and murmured words trickling to a stop as he unconsciously entwined their fingers together and pulled her arm closer to his stomach. Darcy gently kissed the back of his neck and closed her eyes wondering how she ended up with this. She dozed lightly body pressed protectively against Steve’s warm skin keeping the nightmares at bay, Steve’s hand wrapped around hers.
.....................................................
Steve woke slowly, feeling content and warm in the nest of blankets covering him. Eyes fluttering open slowly as he took in the dimly lit room and flashes of the night before filled his brain. He shifted slightly breathing deeply to test the ache of his ribs as air filled his lungs. As his fingertips brushed against the bandage covering his stomach his eyes widened as he became aware of the warm body pressed against the bare skin of his back. The warm breath, ticking the hair at the back of his neck. The hand, which was most definitely not his own, resting flat against the bare skin of his abdomen. “Darcy.” He murmured turning his head to see the cloud of dark hair covering her face.
Darcy snuggled tighter around Steve, nuzzling against him. “Shhh ‘Eve. S’okay. Shush.” Darcy mumbled voice slurred with sleep, as her hand patting and rubbed Steve’s abdomen. Steve gasped and gently pulled Darcy’s hand away before her hand slipped any lower. Darcy shushed him again and he couldn’t help the smirk that curled up his lips as she burrowed tighter to him.
He tried not to think about her curves pressed up against him. He really did. But his brain filled in all the details for him. The feel of her bare legs tangled with him. The scent of her skin warm against him. The press of her breasts, her nipples hard against the sensitive skin of his back. He cursed his memory as flashes of the night before flooded his brain. Seeing Darcy for the first time, standing in her purple dress that hugged her curves as she laughed up at something Thor had been saying before she turned and smiled at him. Darcy pulling out a tazer from her ridiculous bag and the skirt of her dress tearing and revealing far too much pale skin as she fought beside him in the frantic moments before the explosion ripped through the room and Steve threw himself over her. Then they were on their feet running again, Darcy tangling her fingers with his as they ran down a fire escape, bullets pinging against the metal. The memory of Darcy’s teeth dragging against her plump lower lip, as she dug the bullet from his body. Small hands against his belly, as she washed the blood from his skin.
His mind started twisting memories into fantasies of turning over and pinning Darcy to the bed. Of her small hand slipping beneath the band of his boxers fingers wrapping tightly around his cock. Naked flesh and open mouths. His skin felt tight and hot as lust pooled in his belly. It was overwhelming and Steve was ashamed of himself, though not half as ashamed as he felt he should be. Steve groaned pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes. “Not the time for this.” He muttered untangled himself from Darcy and the blankets and stumbled around the bed and into the bathroom.
Steve closed the bathroom door and avoided looking his reflection in the eye as he turned the shower on, stripped out of his shorts and tore the bandages off his stomach. The water was freezing cold and Steve grimaced but let it cool his blood. Darcy was beautiful, with her bright eyes, sarcastic wit, and a stubbornness of spirit that he was sure rivalled his own. He was sure Bucky would be laughing at him for taking a cold shower while a warm woman lay sleeping in his bed.
.........................................................
“Steve?” Darcy called out as she sat up in bed listening to the shower shut off in the bathroom,. Phone cradled in her hand. “You ok? Coulson says eta 20 minutes. They’re sending a car.” Darcy frowned and spotted the red and white bag that held the clothes she bought for him. She threw back the covers and padded across the room collecting the bag and knocking on the bathroom door. “I got you some clothes last night I had to guess at the sizes but they shou-.” Darcy’s breath caught as Steve opened the door revealing wet skin and a small blue towel wrapped around his trim waist. “Oh.”
“Darc? The clothes?”
“Oh. Um yeah. Clothes. Yeah.” She held the bag up, cheeks burning as her eyes skittered back up to Steve’s face. But his eyes weren’t on her face they had dropped much lower than that taking in her bare legs and the blue t-shirt she was wearing.
“Is that my shield?” Steve choked, red creeping up his neck and cheeks. He gripped the door handle so hard the metal groaned as his eyes bore into hers.
“Um yes? Would you believe me if I said I thought it was funny last night.” Darcy worried at her bottom lip, her free hand tugging at the bottom of the shirt. She watched as Steve’s mouth slowly quirked up into a smirk his eyes twinkly with mischief and something that made butterflies explode in her belly as his gaze dropped to her mouth. Darcy shivered when Steve’s fingers brushed against her hand, as he took the bag of clothing and closed the door again.
“Oh boy.” Darcy whistled low, knees wobbly as she walked back over to the bed as her phone started ringing. Darcy pinched her arm because there was no way Captain America smirked at her like that. “Have no fear, Darcy Lewis is here.” She answered blue eyes lingering on the closed bathroom door. “I’m fine Jane. Yes. No. Yes. God Jane I’m fine, SHIELD will be here in ten minutes. I totally saved Captain America’s ass. Darcy Lewis is a certified badass. I’m so getting a sign made up for my desk.”
fin